Top 10 TV Shows of 2023
Some weird ones on this list
2023 was a strong year for television.
We saw the end of high-profile shows and some bold swings that may be harder to finance in our post strike/post streaming wars landscape.
Onto the list.
Honorable Mentions: Colin From Accounts, Black Mirror S6, The Last of Us
10 — Copenhagen Cowboy
Nicolas Winding Refn is on a neon drenched Lynchian nightmare journey that I am here for. Copenhagen Cowboy is equal parts transfixing and utterly meandering and unnecessary. Someone get this guy a tight script and he could be the contender.
9 — Poker Face
Poker Face asks the bold question: “what if we just made TV again?” It’s a Columbo inspired concept of a detective traveling town to town solving murders while on the run from their past. It’s elevated by the Rian Johnson aesthetic and a stunning production value I’m not sure is sustainable for Peacock.
8 — The Righteous Gemstones S3
This show included the four best words to be uttered in 2023: “Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers.” The Righteous Gemstones is funniest show on TV. Every character steals each scene somehow. What a treasure.
7 — Blue Eye Samurai
The best action anything all year is Blue Eye Samurai. Its animation is wholly unique and is able to stretch reality to include fun Jackie Chan-esque creativity in its fight scenes. The story is so well told with each episode telling a split timeline for the lead character Mizu.
6 — How To with John Wilson S3
A show about great editing. Each episode of How To tells a winding narrative over candid videography that is so commonplace yet so bizaare it makes you open your eyes wider to the world around you. This final season got personal as John Wilson divulges some truths and takes a play out of the Nathan Fielder playbook to pull some tricks on its audience.
5 — The Bear S2
No show captures a place to well. The characters are so rich and full of life. You feel a kinship to each “chef” in the kitchen. The episode “Forks” is an shining example of what the medium can achieve.
4 — 100 Foot Wave S2
The camera veers from surfer Garrett McNamara and finds a new cast of characters to root for as they ride the line between prestige and death. The cinematography is elevated this season and the music by Philip Glass just makes this show utterly transfixing.
3 — Beef
The specificity of character, music, and story had me enraptured. Beef is utterly unique down to its title card and 90’s needle drops. Steven Yeun is a national treasure and Ali Wong was never been better. That last episode still has my head in loops.
2 — Succession
Haven’t had this much fun following a show since Game of Thrones. Unlike that series, Succession lands the plane. The cast of characters is equally lovable and hateable but their interactions are infinitely enjoyable to watch. It’s a Shakespearean drama where the King’s Fool happens to be his own children.
1 — The Curse
The Nathan Fielder project veers into fiction and is elevated by Emma Stone and Benny Safdie in the process. Fielder can’t hold up on the acting front but his nervous energy somehow is the perfect ingredient for the director chair. His cinéma vérité style of shooting from afar is disconcerting. No show captures the facade of modern Americans. It’s a mirror to the audience that is both excruciating and thrilling.
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Thanks for reading :)
